That includes navigating a website, downloading an watching a webinar, and more.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to accessibility. There are many types of disability, and each one can have a wide range of impacts on different people.
However, website owners can address these impacts in a standardized way.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG for short) establish best practices for addressing the needs of web users with disabilities.
Following these guidelines doesn’t guarantee that every person with a disability will be able to use your website.
The disabled community’s buying power
While accessibility is important from a moral perspective, it is also a valuable brand differentiator.
About 15% of the global population experiences some form of disability. Disabilities are not limited by national or cultural barriers. They impact phone leads every demographic, everywhere on the planet.
Source: Forbes.com
That means that your customer audience is made up, in part, by people with disabilities. The Kessler Foundation reports that people with disabilities form an increasing proportion of the American workforce. The year-over-year trend continues to pick up steam with consistent percentage-point gains.
Ignoring these people is not only unjust but unwise.
How to create an accessible website
A mouse is a wonderful tool, but it isn’t very accessible. The same is true of touchpads and touchscreen displays. People with visual or motor skill disabilities can’t use these devices.
Instead, many people with disabilities use specialty keyboards.
Devices like these can turn almost any kind of physical input – like Stephen Hawking’s cheek twitch – into a keyboard command.
Similarly, screen-reading AWB Directory software like JAWS work. Entirely off keyboard commands. If your website has a button or feature that isn’t keyboard-accessible, screen-reader users won’t be able to use it.
Allowing people to navigate your website and consume content only using keyboard commands is one of the best ways to improve site-wide accessibility.
